Grain-door for box-cars.



S. TAPPIN.

GRAIN DOOR FOR BOX CARS.

AFPLIOATION FILED NOV. 3. 1909.

967,856. Patented; Aug. 16,1910.

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S. TAPPIN.

GRAIN DOOR .FOR BOX GARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1909.

967,856. Patented Aug 16, 1910.

v To all it may concern:

yin doors for 1 South Dakota, have invented new and usetight connection is maintained between the tile ea es Be it 'known that. I, SILAs TAPPIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVebster, in the county of Day and State of 111 Improvements in Grain-Doors. for Box- Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement rain cars, being specifically directed to a cor adapted for travel in a track way and made up of a series ofconnected sections, the door construction being positively operated in both directions and locked in any desired position at the pleasure of the operator.

I The main object of the present-invention is the provision of a grain car in which are arranged track ways to slidably receive the ends of the door sections, the tracks being arranged so that the respective doors may when fully opened be housed in the upper portion of the car, each door being connectedwith an o crating shaft through the medium of a cab e connection so that either door may be positively moved in either direction at the will of the operators.

. The invention in the preferred form of details will be described in the following specification reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which, I

Figure l is a view in side elevation partly in section and illustrating the improvement. Fig.2 is a section on the line 2-'2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through. the car structure showing both doors in closed posi tion; Fig. 4 is a perspective detail showing the connected sections of the door. Fig. 5 is an enlarged View illustrating means whereby the door may be locked at any desired position.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawings wherein is illustrated the pre-v ferred details of construction it will be noted that the doors 1 and 2 designed to close the usual'door openings in the car are of iden tical construction and hence a detail description of only one sullices for both.

Each door is made up of a series of connected duplicate sections 3 preferably of a length slightly greater than the width of the door opening, and of comparatively narrow Width. The sections have their meeting edgeslrnatched, as at 4. so that a grain v i V. q zninoon Fen noznonn Specification of Letters Patent. Patented, v Application filed November 3,1809. Serial 27o. 523,134.

sections. The sections are movably con? t i nected through the medium of hingedstriplsl 5 which extend the full width of eachsection' on the inner side and serve to strengthen ags well as .hingedly connect the sectionsJ'An desired number of hinged connections am he used, three being illustrated, shown in:

dotted linesjn Fig. 1. Each section deli the door is provided adj ace'nt each end with what I term guide plate 6 having a rla tively outer edgeturned laterally oratright angles to the surface of the section-to pro vide a lip '7. The uprights 8 at thesides ofi the door opening arecut away orfecexed throughout their lengthson their inner, and; side edges to form recesses 9 of rectangular. outline in section and in which are secured wear plates 10 conforming in shapeto-the walls of the recess. 'lhe sections ir ar eoi a length less than the distance between the walls of o )posing recesses, so thatwhenthe forward races of the sections bear against theforward portions ofthe wear'plateslt),

there is a space between the ends of the sections and the side portions ofthe wear plates. edge of the lowermost section, saidi plate beingof a length corresponding tothedis-f tance between the side portions/oiv the; wear;

plates and projecting at each. end beyondftl e A tie plate 1]. underlies the lower: i

approxlimate edge of the lower sec tiorrof;

the door. The tie plate thus formsa guide.

for the movement of the door and pi jecting portion thereof is fornied w th an. openlng to receive eye bolts 12 and 13 f t,

purpose which will presently appear.

With the door sections in place the; re; cess 9 it-will be understood that thedipsl,

of the guide plates extend in parallelrelaf tion to the side portions of the wear plates 10. "A sealing plate 14c is secured td the inner surface of each upright 8, that edge of said plate adjacent the door being formed with an outwardly turned lip 15 tooverliiz and bear against the lip on the Wear plates.

door and upright is sealed to prevent the escape of grain at this ,oint' On the inner side 0' each upright is secured a tube 16 .ivhich extends throu heat the length of the upright and throng the floor of the car opening through the bottom thereof as showntin Fig. 1. A tubular opening 17 is also formed in thefloor of the car in alinement with the recess 9. Below each door By this means the door is secured, 1n the recess and the uncturebetween the arranged a shaft 18 carrying drums 19 and 20 on each end, the shafts being supported in abrackets 21 depending from the bottom of the car. An elevating cable 22 is wound about one drum as 20 and passed through the tube 16, over a pulley 23 mounted in l the up er ortion of the car and from said y P P qglower eye bolt 13. Adjacent one ,end of the pulley down the recess 9 to the upper eye bolt '10. Asecond cable 24 is wound about the drum 19 in opposition to the winding qof the cable 22 on the drum 20 and passing l lthrough the opening 17 and secured to the shaft 18 there is mounted an auxiliary shaft 25 carrying a bevel gear 26 designed to mesh with bevel gear 27 secured on the shaft 18, the shaft 25 having an operating or handle wheel 28 the stem 29 of which is preferably connected with the shaft 25 by ivot connection so that the wheel may drop elow the shaft when not in use to avoid unnecessary obstruction. The end of the shaft adjacent the connection with the handle stem is provided with oppositely arranged ratchets 30 and 31 and opposing pawls 32, 33 mounted on the car structure to engage the res ective ratchets whereby the shaft may be ocked against the move" ment in either direction at pleasure,

The upper end of the recess 9 or more exactly the wearplatc 10 therein communicates with a track way 34 secured to the upper portion of the ear structure or the like, the track way 34 being preferably con structed' of a single strip of material of U- form in cross section and secured to its side so that the open portion is towardthe edge of the door. The track way' 24: is of a length to permit the full length of the door to be supported therein, and at the end adjacent the particular door opening in which it cooperates is curved in coincidence with the recess 9 so as to provide with said recess a continuous track way. The track way 34 for one door is arranged above the track way 34 for the other so that both doors if desired can be simultaneously elevated without interference.

In use, by operation of either shaft 1-8 in an obvious manner the door may be elevated or lowered in accordance with the direction of movement of such shaft, the door operating freely without binding and without permittin'g' an opening for the escape of grain other than that afforded beneath the door in the elevation thereof. The sill 35 of the car is preferably provided with a plate 36 containing a recess 37 to snugly receive the tie plate 11 whereby when the door is closed a proper sealing efi'ect is gained.

The various parts are to be constructed of appropriate material and in such sizes aswillbest adapt them for the purpose for which they are designed. As for example, the sections 3 of the door may be constructed of wood or metal and the cables 22 and 24: made up of a single length of materialvrather than two lengths as shown.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new is l. A car door made up of a series of hinged sections, a guide plate fixed to each section and having a portion bent at right angles to the section and projected in alinement with the side edge of the section to provide a lip, bar uprights formed with recesses to'receive the door sections, and a sealing plate secured to the surface of the uprightto overlie the recess, said sealing late being formed on its free edge with a aterally projected lip to overlie and engage the lips on the sections, whereby the sealing plate secures the sections against independent hinged movement to serve to guide the door as an entirety in its vertical movement with relation to the sealing plates.

2. A car door made up of a'series of hinged sections, a guide plate fixed to each section and having a portion bent at right angles to the section and projected in alinement with the side edge of the section to provide a lip, bar uprights formed with recesses to receive the door sections, and a sealing plate secured to the surface of the upri ht to overlie the recess, said sealing plate being formed onits free edge with a laterally projected lip to overlie and enga e the lips on the sections, said door sections eing of a length less than the distance between the opposing parallel walls of the recesses, whereby to provide a space between each edge of the door and the proximate walls of the recesses, and door operating means movable in saidspaces.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SILAS 'lAPPlN. 

